Another record that has fully blindsided me, for your delectation. I’ve been largely consumed by hardcore and melodic punk this year. I’ve also had less time to engage with the constant barrage of records than in recent years due to day job responsibilities. So pressing play on this earlier today, I had no preconceptions, no suggestions from friends/peers that I might like or dislike this record and beyond the label it was on, actually very little expectation of its sound. If I was a betting man, I’d have lost out though, because I was not expecting what I got.

Species are, according to their press release, a technical thrash band from Warsaw, Poland. Immediately, I think this is misleading, but I’ll come to the reasons in a minute. They released their first EP and played their first ever show on the same day back in 2019. Given the world shut down for a few years in the middle, this is a pretty ‘new’ band, then. But here’s the plot twist; their influences are those you might expect such as Coroner, Toxic, etc. but more importantly (I believe), bands like King Crimson, Rush and Yes. Because yes folks, the prog is strong in these ones. And with the best will in the world, one doesn’t tend to think of the chin-stroking qualities of prog as an obvious bedfellow for the stereotypical bone-headedness of thrash (no offence), thrashers). However, Species have done something very rare and impressive. They have melded the two in a way that feels both immediately modern, contemporaneous to prog-death metal bands like Tomb Mold or even Blood Incantation, but simultaneously imbued with a real ‘Bill and Ted’ vibe that gives the record the character of both an exuberant, magical puppy and a wizened, AK47-wielding mercenary. It’s fucking bizarre.

Another redeeming feature of the occasionally schizophrenic stylistic approach is that the record never really sits in a pocket for very long. It also does that thing which the old heads lament being absent from a lot of today’s heavier music, in that all of the instruments (played by a mere 3 people, I might add) are playing music independent of one another to some extent, which then alchemically becomes more than the sum of its parts. The bass tab would be mind-bending (just listen to the first track just after the 3-minute mark, honestly), the drum patterns and fills are baffling, engaging and propulsive in equal measures, and the guitar work is, quite frankly, some of the most impressive I’ve heard in recent years. From swords-aloft trad, full-throttle thrash, dissonant folk, tech-prog, to wild, expressive solos. Sensational musicianship, but woven together properly. Not just done as an exhibition piece or as a performative interlude. And again: this is a NEW band, for all intents and purposes.

Ok. Do I wish it didn’t fade out at the end of the record? Yes. But even that feels like a nod to the 70’s progenitors of this music. Do I think the swinging time signatures and polyrhythms of ‘Inspirit Creation’ are the best way to open the record? Maybe not. But within 90 seconds, you’re enveloped by a post-Chuck vocal, a techy, scattershot muted, rapid-fire lead and I’m all in. I’m really trying to find fault here, I really am. But it’s all great. They’re proper songs, it’s played with the exuberance of youth, it nails all of the styles it aims for, it doesn’t feel disjointed, it doesn’t;t overstay its welcome (7 songs, 40 mins) and I want to press play again every time it ends. I’m trying to moderate my opinion of this record because I’ve ‘only’ listened to it maybe 5 or 6 times. But actually I like it more every time I listen to it. I would urge you to listen to it. It’s unswervingly brilliant. The compositions and the execution are things that should be vastly beyond a band in their first decade of existence.